The commission on abuses breaks through with the ‘no’ of the PP and the silence of the Church

Spain is heading to stop being an exception in the European environment for its way of dealing with sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church. If in the coming weeks the non-law proposal that was registered this Monday goes ahead in Congress the PSOEan independent commission, led by the Ombudsman and made up of experts, members of the Administration, victims and, in principle, the clergy themselves, will be in charge of clarifying these facts, until now covered by a cloak of opacity. The initiative of the Socialists, contrary to Parliament being the one to investigate these crimes, is beginning to gather a loose and transversal majority, while the PP opposes to her and Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), in an attitude very different from that of the bishops of nearby countries, remains installed in silence.

Government avoid setting deadlines for the future commission. The closest precedent is France, where an independent body concluded last October that since 1950 some 216,000 minors had been abused by nearly 3,000 religious. Its members were working two years and a half before issuing their conclusions.

“They are not short deadlines, due to international experience. We are speaking of years. It is not an easy investigation. Is complicated, with a lot of documentation. The important thing is to do it rigorously, that the victims feel protected, “said this Monday in Ser the Minister of the Presidency, felix Bolanos. In other words, the investigation may not be finished when the next general elections, which are expected by the end of 2023 or the beginning of 2024. So if there is a change in the Government, your work could be at risk.

The Conservative Rejection

The PP has already made it clear that does not support The initiative. From Brussels, Paul Married accused the Government on Monday of wanting to cover up with this commission the abuses of minors that occurred in public centers in the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community, autonomies governed by the socialists. As on other occasions, the leader of the PP ignored that in Madrid, territory in the hands of the Conservatives, there have also been events of this type. In any case, Casado rejected that the investigation was limited to “a certain group”.

It is a thesis very similar to the one that the Catholic Church has been deploying in recent years. Even so, the EEC has not yet clarified whether it will participate in the investigation, and in principle it will not do so until next week, when it will meet with its management body. Despite the fact that Pope Francis has asked to face the phenomenon of abuse more firmly than his predecessors, the Spanish bishops have so far not given no decided step on this ground. Bolaños asked the president of the CEE a few days ago), Juan Jose Omella, to be involved in the commission. “Their response from him was that they will have to think about it,” the minister explained. Here lies the big difference with the French case. While in the neighboring country it was the Church that promoted the investigation commission, in Spain the bishops are On the defensive.

Cross backrests

But the PSOE initiative is gaining support in Congress, where it will be voted on in a few weeks, on a date to be determined. To your left, both United We Can What CKD and Bildu they were prone to support, although the three recalled that their proposal was not going down the path of an independent body, but rather that of a parliamentary investigation commission. The Socialists supported last Tuesday the admission to process of this approach in the lower house, but shortly after they pointed out that they did not consider it appropriate, because it could end up becoming “a circus”.

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The scheme of Pedro Sanchez is that of a body led by the Ombudsman, Angel Gabilondo, who was a friar in his youth. In the past, the institution carried out reports on the victims of the gender violence (1998) or those of ETA (2016). “This model protects more the Privacy of the victims. It guarantees that they are listened to in a friendly and confidential environment”, defended Bolaños. Strictly speaking, who first launched a proposal of this type was the GNP, although without citing the Ombudsman and giving the independent commission a one year term to finish your report. The Basque nationalists will support the socialist proposal, something that the Cs deputies will also do.

The initiative will have no problem moving forward, in the absence of negotiating the small print, which will take Carmen Bald, former first vice president Calvo, who during his years in the Government was in charge of relations with the Vatican, did not save this Monday criticism of the bishops. “The Catholic Church also has to do its job,” he said. We would have liked him to have stepped up in this matter.” The commission, I continue, will be made up of jurists, psychiatrists, psychologists, paediatricians, sociologists, representatives of the victims and the Church itself, the institution responsible for these crimes. As long as the bishops want to participate. For now, silence.